My Story

Monday, May 28, 2012

Stain (Memorial Day 2012)

my father, circa 1968

Today I remember you.
Or what there was of you.
The same stories you told me
about coming home from Nam
to be there when I was born.
Stories about getting on the 'chopper
and then me falling asleep on your chest.
And excuses for why you disappeared.
I see your photo now and then
the tears come, but just a little.
I choke them back.
The war changed you.
All smiles before,
all drunkenness after.
And I, left behind,
then found again,
then left behind,
then found again.
Years would pass with
no sign of you.
No sign except
my own reflection,
my roundish nose,
my one crookish eye,
my smile.
Today is not the only day
I think about you.
But today I am forced to
bring you out of the old suitcase
of memory
and trace my finger over
the writing on the backs of these photographs
of a young G.I.
The only handwriting of yours that I have ever seen.
The last trace of you
that I have.
The only physical things.
These photographs of a lost boy,
a lost man,
a lost father.
Gone forever from me,
but the stain of your memory
remains there in my own reflection.
My nose is yours,
my crooked left eye,
my cheeky smile;
my broken heart.

Sherry,Looking like my father is at times a painful reminder of him...it is much like not being able to escape a prison...it is a life sentence.The little girl in me still wants what never was,But the woman in me knows that leaving me was the very best thing he could have done.

About Me

I design and create jewelry and functional assemblage art pieces for a living. I love my job! I currently sell my work on Etsy.com under the name of Sacred Cake. I've been featured in several amazing magazine publications like Somerset Life, Belle Armoire Jewelry, Jewelry Affaire and Artful Blogging. I'm also featured in a bestselling book by my sister, Kelly Rae Roberts, called "Taking Flight". I am honored to share my words and my work in such a wonderful publication. I am now on the journey of writing a book of my very own!I consider myself a sort of philanthropist on a "shoestring budget"...and I am very prone to daily random acts of kindness, singing in the grocery store, and most importantly, making people laugh.